Page 29 of My Masked Shadow

“I won’t.” He leans in, eyes steady. “I swear.”

My stomach flips. He actually means it.

Fine. If he wants honesty…

“I like—” I stop. No, that’s too vulnerable. Too embarrassing. “I have these… fantasies,” I continue.

His pupils dilate. “Go on.”

I lift my chin. I can do this. “Fantasies about… being chased.”

His inhale is sharp enough to cut the air.

“And caught,” I finish with a whisper.

He exhales through his nose like he’s holding himself back from pouncing.

“You want a primal chase,” he says, voice low and reverent. “Fuck.”

My cheeks grow hot. “Don’t make it weird.”

“Barbara, everything about you is weird,” he says. “Weird and perfect.”

I throw a pillow at his head.

He catches it one-handed and smirks. “Tell me more.”

“I just… want… gritty,” I say haltingly. “Just… something intense. Something…” I wave a hand, frustrated. “Atmospheric.”

That’s when Ethan’s expression shifts.

Feral. Focused. Predatory.

“You want atmosphere?” he murmurs. “I can give you atmosphere.”

“Oh no,” I say immediately. “What does that look mean?”

He rises from the couch with predatory grace, grabbing his half-torn shirt from the floor. “Get dressed.”

“No.”

“We’re leaving.”

“Absolutely not.”

He’s already buckling his pants up. “Shoes, firecracker.”

“Where are we going? It’s—” I look around for my phone. Who knows where I dropped it, though. “—whatever time it is!”

He laughs, the sound wicked. “To my warehouse.”

“What warehouse?”

Is he going to murder me and hang my severed body parts from meat hooks?

“The training one,” he says, interrupting my final-girl spiraling. “Killian and I use it for sims and drills. Big space. Full VR environment. I built a custom horror game in it last year just to mess with the guys.”

I blink. “You… built a VR horror game?”